#0206 - 1

ACCEPTED BY: LL GE
PERINE
PORT CHARLES

#0206 RA

VTR: TUESDAY, FEB. 24, 1998

AIR: THURSDAY, MAR. 19, 1998

CAST SETS:

MATT *ND HOTEL ROOM

CHRIS *ELLENS APARTMENT
BOBBY *NURSES STATION
GRACE *LIGHTHOUSE
ALICE JULIE/LARK APARTMENT
ELLEN LAB
HENCHMAN
KEVIN
LUCY
DR. VAN ZANT (CHEMIST)
LARK
JULIE
SCOTT

U/5S 7 EXTRAS TIME: SAME NIGHT

JEWELER
SIGMUND SCENES: 11

(A) Bobby tells Matt that Matt must trade his own life for Ellens and Alices. Scott shows up ready to take Matt
out of the country. Bobby calls with the rendezvous location. Matt sends Grace off with phony information for
Scott to keep Grace safe and to keep Scott from interfering as he trades his life for Ellens. Matt and Chris make
ready to leave for the rendezvous location.

(B) Lucy apologizes to Kevin. A series of events, initiated when Rex flooded the market with tainted Jacks herbs,
threatens to bring an end to Lucys company. (note omission)

(C) Jake postpones his coffee date with Lark, whom he knows as Chloe. Julie takes Lark home so that Lark misses
the new coffee time. Lark sneaks off to meet Jake anyway. After a heart-felt moment in the lab, Lark and Jake
leave to get coffee.
 #0206 - 2

PROLOGUE

[P-A] ND HOTEL ROOM /ELLENS APARTMENT- NIGHT (MATT, CHRIS, BOBBY,

GRACE/ALICE, ELLEN, HENCHMAN) Bobby threatens to kill Alice and Ellen if Matt does

not agree to meet and trade his life for theirs. Establish Bobby has made an offer to Matt; he will

trade Matts life for the lives of Alice and Ellen. Chris is obviously very frightened. Grace is as

well, but her fear is more for Matt and Ellen than for herself. Matt is all cold business. He

makes Bobby call his Henchman, so Matt can hear Bobby tell the Henchman that Alice and Ellen

will make it to the rendezvous point alive. Bobby calls. INTERCUT WITH ELLENS

APARTMENT. The Henchman answers the phone. Alice and Ellen are tied up and clearly very

afraid. The Henchman tells Bobby he understands the plan. The Henchman says the words,

Wharfside, right. (Note to SW: Whar fside is a specific r efer ence that will play later .)

END INTERCUT. Matt asks Bobby where this trade is going to take place. Bobby tells Matt

hell be in touch. Bobby leaves.

CUT TO:

[P-B] LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT (KEVIN, LUCY, DR VAN ZANT) Lucy is determined to save

Jacks, but a key employee resigns. Lucy is putting out some nuts or vegetables (little snacks that

she is trying to do like her favorite caterer would). She tells Kevin she wants things just right for

when Dr. Van Zant, her chief chemist, comes over . Dr . Van Zant, Lucy r hapsodizes, the

tireless one who so brilliantly worked up the whole Jacks line. Except for that awful stress pill of

Rexs, Lucy adds. She goes on: If only she had listened to Dr. Van Zant in the first place; he

told her to stick with her beauty line and not put those stress pills on the market. She didnt

listen to him then, Lucy says. But she is going to listen this time to what Dr . Van Zant has to
 #0206 - 3

say, and together Dr. Van Zant and Lucy are going to start on a brand-new line that will pull

Jacks up from the depths. The doorbell rings and Lucy opens the door to Dr . Van Zant, who

hesitantly steps in. Lucy tells him to come right over to her desk, they have so much work to do.

Dr . Van Zant stays in the doorway, saying hes afraid Lucy has misunderstood why hes here.

He sees Lucys confusion and adds: Im here to resign. On Lucy, thunderstruck.

END OF PROLOGUE
 #0206 - 4

ACT ONE

[1-A] LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT (KEVIN, LUCY, DR. VAN ZANT) Lucy lear ns why her

Chemist is leaving her. Lucy blur ts out that Dr . Van Zant cant leave J acks. Hes too

impor tant, she wont let him. Dr. Van Zant says that hes sor r y, but he frankly doesnt expect

that Jacks can survive. Lucy reminds Dr. Van Zant that shes still paying his salary, he has

nothing to fear. Dr. Van Zant appreciates how good Lucy has been about still making payroll in

the middle of all the problems Jacks has been having with the product recall and the class-action

lawsuit. But Van Zant can see the writing on the wall, and a rival company has been making him

generous offers for quite a while. Lucy guesses that its Kather ine Bell. Lucy watches Van

Zant, sur e shes r ight. Kather ine Bell wants to steal Dr . Van Zant away to wor k on

Kather ines Deception line. Dr . Van Zant says hes not at liber ty to say who has been

making him offer s. He adds that hes always turned the offer s down until now. Lucy sees:

The vultures are circling. Dr. Van Zant says hes really sorry, but he has to look out for himself.

He leaves. Lucy works to regain her balance, looks to Kevin. Can you believe that? What nerve.

Lucy refuses to give up. Kevin goes to answer the phone as Lucy continues. Shell think of

something. Shell start by hiring another chemist, a much more loyal one that wont desert the

ship at the first sign of trouble. Kevin comes back. That was Jacks stock broker. Rumor s have

hit Wall Str eet that J acks chief chemist is leaving, and the r umor s ar e dr iving J acks stock

even lower. On Lucy, what else can go wrong?

CUT TO:

[1-B] NURSES STATION - NIGHT (JAKE, LARK, JULIE) Jake postpones his coffee date

with Lark, whom he knows as Chloe. Lark is forced to leave the hospital before then. Lark is

anxiously waiting at the Nurses Station, hoping not to be spotted by J ulie or anyone else who
 #0206 - 5

knows her as Lar k. Jake moves in, apologizing to her and calling her Chloe. Hes got an

emergency, can they meet a bit later instead of going now for coffee? Lark flir ts that Jake had

better be worth the wait. J ake says hell tr y to live up to the challenge and he moves off. Lark

is moving off in the other direction when Julie calls out to Lark. Lar k makes sur e that J ake

has clear ed befor e she answer s to Lar k. Julie crosses to Lark and asks if shes ready to go

home. Lark covers that she promised to work another hour. Julie is impressed, Lark is obviously

taking her community service work to heart. But Julie tells Lark they need to go home now; Lark

will just have to tell her supervisor that she cant stay. Julie just has time to drop Lark off at

home and get back to cover a double shift. Lark says shell take the bus home. Julie tells her no,

not after dark. Its dangerous. Lark petulantly insists that she is not a child; she knows how to

take care of herself. J ulie counter s that Lar k has shown little except childish behavior of

late, and cer tainly hasnt demonstr ated her ability to take car e of her self. But that doesnt

matter, Julie reminds her, Lark is not allowed to be out unsupervised after work. Its part of her

court-ordered alternative sentencing. Lark chafes at being treated this way, and insists that this

isnt anything the judge would object to, this is work. Julie tells Lark there will be plenty of

other days when Lark can add to her community service hours. Lark starts to object again but

Julie stops her cold. Julies break isnt long enough for her to stand there arguing with Lark.

Because of the cour t or der , J ulie has no choice but to chauffeur Lar k home. So Lar k

should just pipe down and come along befor e J ulie r emember s what an inconvenience it

r eally is to baby-sit Lar k. Lark glowers, but leaves with Julie anyway.

CUT TO:

[1-C] ND HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT (MATT, CHRIS, GRACE, SCOTT) Matt tells Scott what

has happened. Scott races off to try and save Alice and Ellen. Chris paces while Matt focuses on
 #0206 - 6

the plan hes working on. Chris demands that they call the police rather than wait for a

professional hit man to order them all to their doom. Grace adds that Chris may be right, they

might all be in over their heads. After all, Matt is a doctor now, and not at all like Bobby. Matt

has been out of that world for a long time. Matt says some things you never forget. Matt

reminds Grace that the Marshals, who are the best at keeping people safe, have not done so well

with Matt lately. Scott comes in and is sur pr ised to see Chr is and Gr ace. Scott thought this

whole thing was hush-hush. Does ever ybody know that Scott is ready to fly Matt out of the

country? (note deletion) Matt tells Scott he cant go, he must wait for Bobbys call. Bobbys

Henchman is holding Alice and Ellen captive at Ellens apar tment, and Bobby will kill them if

Matt isnt right here by the phone when Bobby calls. Scott is floored. Ellen? And Alice? Scott

wants to tear these guys apart himself. Suddenly he gets an idea. Scott tells Matt that Bobby

doesnt know about him, so Scott doesnt have to wait. Scott wants to try and get to Alices

before the Henchman moves Alice and Ellen to the yet-to-be-named rendezvous spot. If Scott

can free Ellen and Alice, the whole game changes. Matt reminds Scott that they can not afford

to call in the cops at this point. Scott tells Matt that he knows better than to do that. Scott rushes

out.

END OF ACT ONE

 #0206 - 7

ACT TWO

[2-A] JULIE/LARK APARTMENT/NURSES STATION - NIGHT (LARK/JAKE) Ignoring

Julies orders, Lark makes plans to meet Jake, and then leaves the house. Julie readies to hurry

back to the hospital. She reminds Lark that there is milk and leftover pizza in the fridge. Lark

coldly assures Julie that she is old enough to feed herself, too. As Julie heads out, Lark says

pointedly that the day has really given her a headache; Lark will likely just go to bed early. As

soon as Julie is gone, Larks demeanor changes. Lark calls the Nurses Station and asks for Jake.

INTERCUT WITH NURSES STATION. Jake moves to the phone, asks playfully if Chloe

decided he wasnt wor th the wait after all. Lark tells him she had to go back to campus to

tur n in a paper : You have your emergencies, I have mine, she says. Jake laughs. She

continues being charming, and tells Jake that now that they are even, shell agree to have coffee

with him. Lark says shes coming back to the hospital anyway. They make arrangements to

meet in a half-hour. Lark hangs up, writes a note to tack on her door which says: DO NOT

DISTURB. Lark moves up the stairs, smiling slyly as she does.

CUT TO:

[2-B] LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT (KEVIN, LUCY) Lucy insists shes going to rebuild Jacks with

Rexs money. Lucy learns that there will be far too little money from Rexs estate to do Jacks

any good. Lucy tells Kevin she is going to make Rex pay for what hes done to J acks, literally.

In fact, Lucy is calling right now to see how much money that the antiques she sold out of Rexs

home brought in. On the phone she barely gets two words out of her mouth. She listens, says a

meek thank-you, and hangs up. Lucy tells Kevin the news. The antiques brought a relative

pittance compared to what Lucy expected. All Rexs antiques were knock-offs. Good ones, but

still, the money is not going to bail Lucy out. How can she get out of debt like this? Lucy gazes
 #0206 - 8

at her emerald engagement ring. She comments that Rex was not at all what he seemed. In fact,

the only thing Rex ever gave her of real value wasshe gasps. You dont suppose Lucy tells

Kevin shes going to have the ring appraised tonight. On Lucy, determined as she dials the

phone.

CUT TO:

[2-C] ELLENS APARTMENT - NIGHT (SCOTT, ALICE, MATT) Scott tells Matt that

Alice is safe, but Scott was too late to rescue Ellen. Scott bursts in. Alice is tied up and gagged,

but the Henchman and Ellen are gone. As Scott removes the gag and unties Alice, she tells him

how she pleaded with the Henchman to take her, not Ellen. Alice told him Ellen is still

recovering from smoke inhalation. Alice tells Scott with horror that the Henchman said they

knew how important Ellen was to Matt, so he took Alices baby anyway. As Scott dials the

phone he tells Alice he knows how she feels. His daughter was kidnapped, too. He promises

to do all he can to save Ellen. GO TO MATT. (We still hear Scott, but we stay on Matt.) Matt

picks up the phone. Scott says Matt? Matt relaxes a bit, telling Scott he was expecting Bobby.

Scott says Alice is safe, but that scumbag took Ellen before I got here. Matt is silent. Scott says

hello? Matt thanks Scott for trying but says he now knows what he has to do. On Matt, gr im,

knowing a showdown with Bobby is inevitable.

END OF ACT TWO

 #0206 - 9

ACT THREE

[3-A] LAB - NIGHT (JAKE, LARK, JULIE) After near ly getting caught by J ulie, Lar k flir ts

with J ake. J ake r esponds. Lark is about to enter the Lab when she hears Julie talking to Jake

inside. (We hear Julie ask Jake about a patient.) Lark steps back from the door as Julie exits, in

a narrow miss. But Julie moves the other way, away from Lark, without seeing her. After a

tense beat, Lark enters the Lab. Jake greets her as Chloe. Lark asks if Jake is ready to go out for

coffee? Jake asks if she minds waiting for just a minute, hes almost finished. Lar k watches

as J ake peer s into a micr oscope, then jots something down. Cur ious, she asks J ake what he

sees. J ake says take a look. Lar k moves over and peer s into the micr oscope her self. (Lar k

and J ake ar e now ver y close to each other .) J ake asks if Lar k knows what shes looking at.

Lar k answer s honestly that she hasnt a clue. As J ake dir ects her , (see that little squiggly

thing in the upper r ight cor ner ?) he watches her , the way she br ushes her hair back, the

way her eyes light up when she sees what J ake is talking about. J ake tells Lar k that the

little squiggly thing is a r egener ated cell, and that some day he hopes this r egener ating

technique will make par aplegics walk again. Lar k says what a mir acle it is when doctor s

can take peoples br oken lives and fix them. She looks up then, and J ake r ealizes just how

close to each other they r eally ar e. He asks isnt fixing people why they both decided to

become doctor s? The moment is char ged. Lar k tells J ake shed r eally like to hear mor e

about his r esear ch over coffee. Jake, held captive by Larks big brown eyes, says lets go.

CUT TO:

[3-B] LIGHTHOUSE - NIGHT (LUCY, SIGMUND) Lucy fears that there is no hope for Jacks.

The doorbell rings. Lucy rushes to the door and shows the Jeweler in, thanking him profusely for

working so late, and for making a house call. The Jeweler tells Lucy he wouldnt do this for just
 #0206 - 10

anyone. He waits. Lucy reacts, twists the emerald off of her finger, and hands it to the Jeweler.

She stands anxious and afraid and almost over his shoulder as the Jeweler opens his case and

examines the ring. He tells Lucy the emerald is the best hes ever seen. Lucy beams. The

Jeweler continues that hes never seen a fake this good. Lucy is crestfallen. Its worthless? The

Jeweler offers her two thousand dollars. Lucy says shell get back to him and the Jeweler leaves.

Lucy goes back to working Jacks books. Lucy sums up to herself. Her chemist has quit, J acks

r eputation is r uined and Lucy can see no way to make her miserable-slime-of-a-husband Rex

pay for flooding the market with his phony and dangerous stress tabs. Lucy tries to look on the

bright side. Maybe she should quit before she gets any further behind. Lucy moves from Jacks

books to the couch, scooping up Sigmund as she does. Lucy talks to her confidant. Jacks is

doomed, she tells Sigmund. Jacks is the Titanic, and theyve hit an iceberg.

CUT TO:

[3-C] ND HOTEL ROOM - DAY (MATT, CHRIS, GRACE) Matt receives his instructions for

the trade from Bobby. Matt sends Grace to safety, then convinces Chris of what Matt and Chris

must do. Matt gets the call from Bobby (ONE WAY; we dont hear Bobbys side of this). Matt

listens, says got it. He hangs up and turns to Grace and Chris. Matt says the deal is on, he is to

go alone to the Consolidated Foods warehouse in one hour. Grace is surprised. She and Matt

were nearly killed by Bobby at that warehouse. Matt says that Bobby is apparently anxious to

return to that warehouse to rectify the nearly part. Matt suddenly has an idea. Grace knows

that warehouse. If she can tell Scott what she knows, maybe Scott can get to the warehouse first.

Grace is all for the idea. Matt makes Grace promise to tell Scott, but not to put herself in any

danger. Grace assures Matt that she really wants to live through this night. She leaves. Matt,

relieved, tells Chris the real plan. Chris must drive Matt to the Wharfside warehouse. Chris is
 #0206 - 11

thrown. Matt lied about where the meeting will take place? Its not going to be at the

Consolidated Foods warehouse? No, Matt tells Chris, that was just Matts way of making sure

that Grace would be safe, and that Scott wouldnt mess things up while trying to help. Chris

looks for a way out of this. He says he thought Matt was supposed to show up alone. Matt tells

Chris that is what Bobby said, but not what theyre going to do. Chris worries that any change in

the plan will endanger Ellen. Matt assures Chris that Ellen is in plenty of danger already. So is

Chris, Matt continues. Chris is a dead man if Bobby lives. If Bobby could find Matt, hell find

Chris. Matt adds that Bobby never leaves witnesses alive. Chris sees that his only chance to

live is to help Matt, but he wonder s what good he can be. Hes not used to any of this. Matt

assur es Chr is that Matt will tell him exactly what he needs to do. Chr is asks how Matt can

possibly be so calm. Matt says that his ability to out-think Bobby is the only chance that

any of them have to sur vive.

END OF EPISODE